Monday, July 1, 2019

The Trump Administration Is Readying Plans To Deny Asylum To Central Americans And Speed Up Deportations

The two policies could dramatically reshape the immigration system, both within the US and at the border.

The Trump administration is readying two policies that could dramatically reshape the immigration system — both within the US and at the border — by speeding up deportations inside the country and denying asylum to immigrants who traveled through Mexico to the southern border, according to multiple sources close to the administration.

The policies, if implemented, would come in the form of regulatory changes — one an interim final rule and the other a notice — and become the latest in a series of attempts by the Trump administration to not only deter asylum-seekers from reaching the border but to increase deportations of unauthorized immigrants within the US.

“It’s a fundamental change in the way the immigration components will be doing their work,” said Ur Jaddou, former chief counsel of US Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Multiple sources close to the administration confirmed the plans were being actively considered. It’s unclear when the policies could be introduced — or whether they ultimately will be — but those close to the administration believe the changes could come soon.

Specifically, administration officials have been working on a plan that would make anyone who transited through a third country by land to the southern border ineligible for asylum if they did not first seek protection in the country they traveled through. Instead, immigrants could be placed into a process that would be more difficult for them to gain protection after claiming persecution.

At the same time, Department of Homeland Security officials have been actively pushing a regulatory notice that would expand “expedited removal” orders — a process that allows immigration officers to arrest and deport undocumented immigrants without a hearing in front of an immigration judge. The current policy allows officials to use expedited removal within 100 miles of the border and toward individuals who have been in the country up to two weeks.